Lamentations 1

The City Left Lonely

1 How the city that used to be packed with people now sits all alone. She was once great among the nations, but now she is like a widow. She ruled over provinces, but now she has been forced into servitude.

2 She cries hard through the night, tears running down her face. None of her so-called lovers are there to comfort her. All her friends switched up and turned against her.

3 Judah got dragged off into exile after suffering hard oppression. She lives among the nations but finds no rest. Her enemies caught her while she was trapped and worn out.

4 The roads to Zion are mourning because nobody comes to the appointed feasts anymore. All her gates are deserted. Her priests groan, her young women are grieving, and she has wrapped up in bitterness.

5 Her enemies are now on top, her adversaries are chilling in peace. The LORD brought this pain on her because of all her sins stacked up. Her children were taken away, marched off by the enemy.

6 All the beauty of Daughter Zion is gone. Her leaders are like deer with no strength, running without food, collapsing in front of the pursuer.

Jerusalem’s Sin and Shame

7 In her days of suffering and homelessness, Jerusalem remembers all the good things she used to have. When her people fell into enemy hands, nobody came to help. Her enemies laughed and mocked her downfall.

8 Jerusalem sinned heavy, that is why she became filthy. Everyone who once respected her now looks at her with disgust because they have seen her naked shame. Even she sighs and turns her face away.

9 Her uncleanness was on her skirts; she did not think about where this road would end. She fell hard, with nobody to comfort her. She cries out, “LORD, look at my suffering, because the enemy is winning.”

10 The enemy stretched his hands out over everything precious she had. She saw foreign nations enter her sanctuary, people You told not to be part of Your assembly.

11 All her people groan while searching for food. They traded their valuables just to survive. She says, “LORD, look and see how low I have fallen.”

A Cry for Mercy

12 “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by, Look and see if there is any pain like my pain, the pain the LORD laid on me in the day of His fierce anger.”

13 “From heaven He sent fire into my bones and took control of me. He spread a net for my feet and turned me back. He left me desolate and sick all day long.”

14 “My sins were tied together by His hand. They were fastened like a yoke on my neck, crushing my strength. The Lord handed me over to those I cannot stand up against.”

15 “The Lord rejected all my strong ones in my midst. He called an assembly against me to crush my young men. The Lord trampled Daughter Judah like grapes in a winepress.”

16 “That is why I am crying, my eyes flooding with tears. No one is near to comfort me, nobody to restore my soul. My children are destroyed because the enemy overpowered us.”

No One to Help

17 Zion stretches out her hands, but nobody comforts her. The LORD commanded surrounding nations to become Jacob’s enemies. Jerusalem became like something unclean among them.

18 “The LORD is righteous, because I rebelled against His command. Hear me, all peoples, and see my pain. My young women and young men were taken into captivity.”

19 “I called out to my lovers, but they played me. My priests and elders died in the city while searching for food just to stay alive.”

20 “LORD, look how distressed I am. My insides are twisted, my heart is torn apart, because I rebelled hard. Outside, the sword kills; inside, it is like death.”

21 “They hear my groaning, but nobody comforts me. All my enemies heard about my trouble and celebrated what You did. Bring the day You promised, so they end up like me.”

22 “Let all their evil come before You. Deal with them the same way You dealt with me because of all my sins. My groans are many, and my heart is weak.”